Colin and Rosalie Dipper may be reached at: West End House High Str. Heytesbury Warminster BA12 OEA England. The phone number (phoning from North America) is 011-44-1985-840516. (Contact info. furnished by C.net)

you don't order a dipper. you just wish for it. concentrate... really hard. keep that focus for 3 to 5 years. if you forget about it for half a second, you have to start over. then, after 3 to 5 years, several thousand dollars will disappear out of your bank account and a concertina will show up at your front door.

Of the ten best recent concertinas I have seen the top three would be Dippers, head and shoulders above the rest. The next seven would all be Suttners. The other Dippers I have seen were beautiful but unremarkable when played with your eyes shut. I don't know if you can ask or pay for one of the good ones or they just happen.

Edited to add PS - Colin has told me that he keeps clear of the Net because he reckons he could spend an awful lot of time on it, which would get in the way of making concertinas. To which I can only add:amen.

Mine is the standard "Cotswold" model which Chris mentioned above. I just took what was available at the time - I've told the story of how I came by it on other threads so I won't repeat it, as it only causes pain to those still on the waiting list.

To reply to Fred Smitherley's comments, I can only disagree - nearly all the the Dippers I've played have been a delight to the ear and the eye, and a pleasure to play. The only exception was one of his early instruments which had been played hard for morris for 30 years; mind you, it was still a good instrument, just not quite in the top drawer. It still went for a healthy price on ebay, though.

I'd be tempted by the baritone that's just come on ebay, but I'm not sure I can cope with the grief I'd get from both my wife and my bank manager, so I won't be bidding

Of the ten best recent concertinas I have seen the top three would be Dippers, head and shoulders above the rest. The next seven would all be Suttners. The other Dippers I have seen were beautiful but unremarkable when played with your eyes shut. I don't know if you can ask or pay for one of the good ones or they just happen.

Fred

Have you never seen a Dickenson Wheatstone Fred? Or don't you rate them?

Of the ten best recent concertinas I have seen the top three would be Dippers, head and shoulders above the rest. The next seven would all be Suttners. The other Dippers I have seen were beautiful but unremarkable when played with your eyes shut. I don't know if you can ask or pay for one of the good ones or they just happen.

Fred

Have you never seen a Dickenson Wheatstone Fred? Or don't you rate them?

I have had the pleasure once. The remark above was about recent concertinas. The best overall instrument I have ever seen was a Dipper, the second was a John Crabb, the third a Jeffries. I might have played 70 or 80 good instruments. This is because I used to approach people and ask to try them, and offer them a go on my Dipper. Not the one at the top of both lists unfortunately.

I came across a Dickenson made in the 80s some time ago and thought it was about as good as a Wheatstone made in the 50s. It was from his cheaper range so fair enough. I do wonder if he makes very many? You occasionally see someone here annoucing the arrival of a new Dipper, but I have never seen anyone saying their new Dickenson has arrived. Does anyone have a new Dickenson? I can understand nobody is complaining publicly about the delay because you don't want to take the chance of making it longer if the maker takes exception.

I spoke to Steve Dickenson approximately two weeks ago. He advised me that he makes about 12 (twelve) concertinas per year and that his waiting list currently is 5 (five) years. He will be charging me approximately 5,200 pounds for my concertina. I wonder if this price excludes VAT etc. He laments that his concertinas are each hand made, hand produced and very time consuming.

Of the ten best recent concertinas I have seen the top three would be Dippers, head and shoulders above the rest. The next seven would all be Suttners. The other Dippers I have seen were beautiful but unremarkable when played with your eyes shut. I don't know if you can ask or pay for one of the good ones or they just happen.

Fred

Have you never seen a Dickenson Wheatstone Fred? Or don't you rate them?

I have had the pleasure once. The remark above was about recent concertinas. The best overall instrument I have ever seen was a Dipper, the second was a John Crabb, the third a Jeffries. I might have played 70 or 80 good instruments. This is because I used to approach people and ask to try them, and offer them a go on my Dipper. Not the one at the top of both lists unfortunately.

I came across a Dickenson made in the 80s some time ago and thought it was about as good as a Wheatstone made in the 50s. It was from his cheaper range so fair enough. I do wonder if he makes very many? You occasionally see someone here annoucing the arrival of a new Dipper, but I have never seen anyone saying their new Dickenson has arrived. Does anyone have a new Dickenson? I can understand nobody is complaining publicly about the delay because you don't want to take the chance of making it longer if the maker takes exception.